HSCT 2015 Update

The Howe Sound Crest Trail project is progressing satisfactorily and the trail is increasingly popular. This can have its drawbacks due to the constant interruptions to machine work, and in 2015 it is hoped to get the trail crew started early. However there are already signs that this lack of snowpack may also have the effect of closing the backcountry if a fire season closure is declared early in the summer, so it still may be a short season. A lot of difficult rock work is being done as it approaches St Marks, but past St Marks we hope to be moving along quite a bit faster. Again, we hope to start some high-elevation work with volunteers out towards Magnesia Meadows from a camp, dependent on BC Parks staffing and budget. In 2014, BC Parks applied for $5,000 for helicopter hours (meaning about 5 hours) but got zero dollars allocated to this. Nonetheless this is a worthwhile project that originated with the VANOC 2010 Olympic legacy funding that we negotiated for. Another block of this funding is now being used as seed money in the Hollyburn Lodge restoration, a $1.5 million project now under way to fully restore the last of the North Shore ski lodges from the 1930’s (telemarking) era.